Food and Drink - Cool Mom Picks

11 new cookbooks parents should pick up now, from Suzy Chase of Cookery by the book

by Liz Gumbinner | Food + Recipes, Podcast

Cookbooks aren’t just about recipes — they open us up to new perspectives, new cultures, new ways of thinking about food. They can be funny, quirky or heartfelt., and they can even make our lives richer — both at mealtime and beyond. Whether...

Help for picky eaters from a reformed picky eater | Spawned ep 149

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Podcast

This week’s Jacky Lamenzo is a health coach with a focus on picky eating, to help make mealtime less stressful. We like that while we’ve gotten some great picky eater tips in the past, Jacky has a more kid-centered approach, focusing on how kids feel, and...

10 things we wish we had spent way less time on when our kids were babies

by Cool Mom Staff | Baby, Food + Recipes

Now that our kids are older, it’s easy to look back and ask ourselves why we spent so much time thinking about things that didn’t really matter that much in the long run. Oh to have all of that time back! One thing we know parents spend a lot of time thinking about:...

Here’s how to buy Cards Against Humanity’s “Remember to Vote” Worms.

by Liz Gumbinner | Doing Good, Food + Recipes

Leave it to Cards Against Humanity, a company that doesn’t shy away from the issues of the day, to come out with the genius Cards Against Humanity Remember to Vote Worms in time for Halloween. Aaaaand the incredibly important midterm elections. Related: How to...

Catherine McCord’s tips for making feeding kids more fun | Spawned ep 127

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Podcast

We’re always up for tips and tricks to help us make our time in the kitchen more fun, which is why we were so excited to chat with Catherine McCord, of the uber popular Weelicious, one of our all-time favorite food blogs. We’ve been friends for years now,...

Kids and nutrition: Tips from pediatric expert Dr. Tanya Altmann | Spawned ep 125

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Podcast

This week on Spawned, we’re talking kids and nutrition. Which, TBH, is one of those issues that nearly universally stresses out parents of all kinds, with kids of all ages. Fortunately, we’ve got an expert to help us out: Dr. Tanya Altmann, who you may...

12 summer essentials you’ll always find in our handbags, for travel or every day

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Tips + Tricks

Whether we moms are hitting the road for vacation, or just shuttling the kids back and forth to camp every day, we’ve always got a list of essentials in our handbags that we can’t live without. It’s part of our summer ritual: switch the black leather...

Great tips from Siri Daly to make it more fun to feed your kids | Spawned 108

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Podcast

Feeding kids! We all love it so much! Hahahah. No. Well, maybe some of us do. But most of us — it’s just another one of those things we have to do as parents, and make the best of it. That’s why it was so fun to speak this week about that very thing,...

Great ideas for sweet after-school treats that go easy on the sugar. (Sorry cookies!)

by Stacie Billis | Food + Recipes

When my kids were younger, after-school snacks served largely as a reward for making it through the school day. Now that they are a bit older, what they eat after school and before their after-school activities provides necessary fuel to keep them going strong through...

5 super fun bento box ideas that are as easy to make as they are to eat.

by Stacie Billis | Food + Recipes, Tips + Tricks

We love a fun bento box as much as the next person, but has anyone else noticed that most playful school lunch ideas require a PhD in arts and crafts? So cute, but who has the time — or, um, ability? While we admittedly attempt more ambitious school lunches for...

Boost your beginner eater’s diet with these 10 best superfoods for babies and toddlers.

by Stacie Billis | Baby, Food + Recipes

We here on the CMP team have a lot of collective parenting experience under our belts — or, uh, stretchy waist bands — and one thing that we all agree on is that starting solids is one of the most exciting and overwhelming developmental stages....

Eliminating food dyes from your kids snacks? Start with these 3.

by Cool Mom Staff | Food + Recipes, Tips + Tricks

When it comes to treats and candy for our kids, we’ve always take a pretty common sense “everything in moderation” approach around here. Hey, we love candy! What’s a trip to the movie theater, a birthday party, or a special occasion lunchbox...

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, more meaningful, and more fun for parents of all kinds.

Trivia: It was called Cool Mom Sh*t for the first two days. (Yeah, we rethought that.)

We had no idea our site would grow to become a major lifestyle network, that we'd end up sharing our finds with the TODAY Show and Martha Stewart, that we'd be able to make a real difference for so many small businesses and women-run companies, or that we'd end up with an incredible community of the coolest readers on the planet. (If we do say so ourselves).

We did.

And we still love what we do every single day.

We're so glad you're here.